UK IT Body Calls for Law Change to Challenge Computer System Data Accuracy

A U.K. IT professional body is urging for a change in the law regarding the reliability of computer evidence, following concerns raised over the Post Office Horizon scandal. The scandal involved thousands of sub-postmasters who were falsely accused of taking money, with over 700 individuals being prosecuted for fraud or false accounting. The convictions were partly based on data from the flawed Horizon IT system supplied by Fujitsu, which generated phantom transactions leading to discrepancies. The issue at hand is the legal presumption that evidence from a computer is correct unless proven otherwise. The BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, is now calling for a review of the law to prevent future miscarriages of justice. The organization highlights the dangers of unquestionably accepting the output of IT systems as reliable evidence, emphasizing the need for IT experts to provide guidance in these cases. The BCS hopes that the current inquiry into the Post Office scandal will recommend that organizations relying on computer-generated evidence should prove the reliability of the underlying computer system. This demand for change comes after similar cases in the past where the presumption of accuracy led to problems, such as allegations of falsified patient records in a hospital case that was eventually abandoned. The BCS hopes that a formal review will lead to a clarification of the law and ensure a more just legal system that takes into account the potential flaws in computer evidence.